Sunday, September 17, 2006

Pope Benedict's Mea Culpa - Not Enough for the Muslims

Pathetic is what comes to mind. Pope Benedict is doing everything but genuflecting and offering an outright apology to the Muslims for his unwise remarks. There can be little doubt that he meant what he said about the Muslims. Of course, the Islamic world jumped at the opportunity to attack him. Then there was President Bush and his talk about a Third Awakening. There is a lot of similarity between them -- the Pope, the Mullahs, and President Bush.

VATICAN CITY, Sept. 16 -- Pope Benedict XVI "sincerely regrets" offending Muslims with his reference to an obscure medieval text that characterizes some of the teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman," a senior Vatican official said in a statement Saturday.

But the comment stopped short of the apology demanded by Islamic leaders around the world, and anger among Muslims remained intense. Palestinians attacked five churches in the West Bank and Gaza over the pope's remarks in a speech Tuesday to university professors in his native Germany.

Washington Post

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Gods of War

President Bush spoke on Tuesday of a "Third Awakening" of religious devotion in the United States, linking it to support for the battle against terrorism. The survey

"American Piety in the 21st Century," released last week by Baylor University, reveals that regular churchgoers are more likely than non-churchgoers to trust Bush,

back the war in Iraq and believe that Saddam Hussein was involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

ATTEND CHURCH WEEKLY

NEVER ATTEND

Agree that Iraq war is justified

54.8%

30.5%

Believe that Hussein involved in 9/11

48.5%

24.4%

Support expansion of government authority to fight terrorism

68.6%

44.8%

Trust Bush "a lot"

32.2%

8.4%

NOTE: SURVEY INCLUDES RESPONSES FROM 1,721 PEOPLE IN LATE 2005. SOURCE: BAYLOR INSTITUTE FOR STUDIES OF RELIGION